The Truth About Perimenopausal Weight Gain
In addition, despite being calorie free, they mimic sugar and may cause your body to produce insulin to metabolize them. These artificial sweeteners have been shown to increase insulin resistance and actually cause you to eat more, resulting in weight gain. And many of them contain caffeine to compensate for the energy crash that follows them which can cause additional challenges if you are struggling with adrenal fatigue (Click here to take our online Adrenal Health Assessment). So please avoid artificial sweeteners! If you are looking to add some sweetness, your best choice is stevia. If you want to learn more about dealing with sugar and sugar cravings, see our article, “Sweet Poison – Kicking Your Sugar Addiction“.
Stress
Let’s face it, life today can be stressful! We all face many stressors ranging from physical to emotional even to food-related. Binge eating, yo-yo dieting, and undiagnosed food sensitivities all take a toll on our health over time; to our bodies, these extreme conditions are considered to be stressors that put our body into survival mode. 
Throw in work and family, bills, crazy drivers, aging parents and hormonal teenagers, and life can be a steady stream of stressful situations.
If this sounds like your life, you’re not alone! But the toll it is taking on your adrenal system may make weight loss — or even maintenance — impossible. Stress hormones such as cortisol will block weight loss; just as we saw with insulin, when these hormone levels are high, they can cause your body to go into a famine mode and hoard and store extra calories. Prolonged stress that doesn’t let up can also lead to a metabolic disorder known as adrenal fatigue. Learn more about adrenal fatigue with our many informative articles in our Adrenal Health Library.
If you combine high stress with a low fat, high carb diet, the resulting hormonal imbalance will almost guarantee weight gain. And as we discussed when we talked about insulin, a high carb diet can cause food cravings, as neurotransmitters become imbalanced. If serotonin levels are low or you are having rebound sugar crashes after a high glucose meal, you will find yourself in search of an afternoon snack to “feel better.” But unfortunately, if you succumb, you will only feed the cycle of insulin resistance and adrenal exhaustion and you’ll almost certainly add extra body fat.
If you feel “tired” all the time or conversely, feel “wired” on a regular basis, you’ll want to get extra support for your adrenals. Our Women to Women Adrenal Support Formulas come in two forms, our True Health – Feeling Tired Adrenal System and our True Health – Feeling Wired Adrenal Support System.
There is also a wealth of information about feeling “tired and wired” in the book I have written on this topic, Is It Me Or My Adrenals?
Estrogen
Weight gain in mid-life is often tied to estrogen levels. During perimenopause, it is the fluctuation of estrogen (and it’s relationship to other hormones such as progesterone) that can cause challenges for our body to maintain balance. When that happens, fat can become your body’s best friend. After menopause, the reduced estrogen levels overall can cause the body to store extra fat because fat cells can produce estrogen which offers the body a safety net.
As the ovaries produce less estrogen, the body turns to other production sources such as the skin, organs and yes, our fat cells. Extra fat cells become insurance for your body to ensure that if the ovaries don’t come through, your body will still be okay, because the fat cells can step in. If you have other mitigating conditions such as bone loss or you are stressed or not eating enough healthy fats, then your body will struggle even further with your fluctuating hormones and will be even more likely to store excess fat as insurance.
For more information about estrogen, read our article, “Estrogen Dominance – Is It Real?“.
Toxins
Many studies have shown that even people in remote rural areas carry toxins that get stored in their fat cells. Animals store pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones in their fat, which we take in when we eat them, which is why buying organic grass-fed meats are so important. We are exposed to the same chemicals through the food we eat, as well as the air we breathe, the products we cook with, eat and drink from and wear, and we too store them in our cells. See our article, “A List Of Common Toxins,” for more information.
We all have a toxic burden from birth as studies show babies are born with chemicals already in their systems from their mothers. But over the course of our lives, we add to that burden. 
Plastics, chemicals, heavy metals, allergens, bacteria, pesticides, radiation, poisons and additives to cosmetics, cleaners, clothing and furniture – all add to our “toxic load.” A healthy immune system will detoxify and release these, but if you are compromised in any way, exposed to high levels, or imbalanced, excess toxins will remain in your fat cells. Read about detoxifying your body and why it’s important in our Detoxification articles.
These stored toxins may cause inflammation, which is a common condition that occurs at menopause, and it can further disrupt the communication between our cells and our hormones. In addition, if you lose weight rapidly, these toxins will be released into your system and cause a number of symptoms that may well lead your body to desire returning back to where it was. Even if that previous level wasn’t healthy, what your body considers to be “homeostasis” or what it knows to be a healthy balance, will lead you to gain the weight back.